FURNITURE & INTERIORS
For a number of years now, we have worked with care homes across the country on some very rewarding dementia-focused schemes. These have included creating reminiscence areas, libraries, hairdressers and even a bus stop to allow residents to sit back and watch the world go by. Spaces like this can help rekindle old memories and provide comfortable, familiar places to create new ones.
Communal spaces that provide a choice of places to sit and things to do can also have a positive impact on a person’s quality of life. Small groupings of different types of seating encourage people to sit together and chat, look at photographs, play cards, watch television and read. Variety will help people living with dementia stay stimulated and contribute to preserving their sense of identity.
Care home providers should also consider establishing areas geared towards specific activities, such as cafés and hairdressers. Such spaces provide patients with the opportunity to spend time with other residents, friends and family members while taking part in everyday activities in a safe and friendly environment.
Providing opportunities for reminiscence can have a similar impact. Memory boxes, which contain special and significant objects from a person’s life, can be installed inside a patient’s bedroom - something to wake up to each day - or outside their door in the hallway to help them remember the location of their room. They are also an effective way for family and friends to establish conversation and share recollections such as holidays or birthdays.
Finally, facilities that provide ‘way finding’ items such as colour-coded seating groups, large bookcases to differentiate corridors and memory boxes outside bedrooms, will help people living with dementia feel more confident when exploring their care home unaided.
twitter.com/TomorrowsCare
Our growing understanding of dementia means we’re now able to create living and communal spaces tailored to the specific needs of patients. When a supportive environment is successfully created, it allows those with the condition to maintain more independent and happy lives.
Creating an environment that promotes confidence and independence is also beneficial to friends and family members. It can be upsetting to see a previously independent parent or friend struggle to carry out simple tasks or remember the names and faces of loved ones. A role reversal often takes place where a child finds that they must now look after the parent, which can be difficult and distressing for both parties. With this in mind, care homes that fill their facilities with thoughtfully laid out spaces aimed at giving residents more freedom and happiness will help to give relatives peace of mind.
The benefits extend to care home staff too. Although it is common for a person’s condition to worsen over time, a well-designed environment can help people to have more ‘good days’ as time goes on. Poorly designed environments which do not properly consider a patient’s needs put unnecessary stress on members of staff who already have a difficult job.
It is therefore in the interest of care home providers to apply a person- centred approach to layout and furniture, as it can provide much needed support to people living with dementia, their care givers and family members.
www.knightsbridge-furniture.co.uk - 29 -
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54